1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to computer graphics. More specifically, this invention relates to sending and receiving computer graphics.
2. Background Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely sophisticated devices, and computer systems may be found in many different settings. Computer systems typically include operating system software that controls the basic function of the computer, and one or more software applications that run under the control of the operating system to perform desired tasks. For example, a typical IBM Personal Computer may run the OS/2 operating system, and under the control of the OS/2 operating system, a user may execute an application program, such as a word processor. As the capabilities of computer systems have increased, the software applications designed for high performance computer systems have become extremely powerful.
Other changes in technology have also profoundly affected how we use computers. For example, the widespread proliferation of computers prompted the development of computer networks that allow computers to communicate with each other. With the introduction of the personal computer (PC), computing became accessible to large numbers of people. Networks for personal computers were developed to allow individual users to communicate with each other. In this manner, a large number of people within a company could communicate with other computer users in a convenient and efficient manner.
One significant computer network that has recently become very popular is the internet. The internet grew out of the modern proliferation of computers and networks, and has evolved into a sophisticated worldwide network of computer systems linked together by web pages that collectively make up the “World-Wide Web”, or WWW. A user at an individual PC (i.e., workstation) that wishes to access the WWW typically does so using a software application known as a web browser. A web browser makes a connection via the WWW to other computers known as web servers, and receives information from a web server that is displayed on the user's workstation. Information displayed for the user is typically organized into pages that are constructed using a specialized language called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). The user can navigate to any page by inputting the address or Uniform Resource Locator (URL) into the web browser. URLs are simply formatted text strings which identify the location of a WWW resource.
The explosion of the internet and of networks in general has brought internet technology to even very small companies. Many companies today have “intranets” that act like the internet. Computer users in these companies can view pages, get data, and navigate around the intranet just as if the intranet was actually the internet. Some companies allow both intranet and internet access by employees, which makes the intranet almost “transparent” to the general user. He or she may have no idea that there are two separate networks. Intranets and the internet are important to many companies because employees can transfer files, communicate with other employees, apply for new positions, and even hold meetings over these networks.
As these networks have grown and increased in popularity, the types of data sent over the networks have changed dramatically. Originally, simple text (alphabetic letters) documents were the only data sent; now, transmission of graphics (e.g., pictures, photographs, diagrams), sound, and video are commonplace. These types of files tend to be very large. Because of this, people using the network may have to wait quite a long time before the various graphics that are on an intranet or internet page actually get rendered on the user's screen. This is particularly true if the server sending the information is slow or the connection to the network is slow. Even fast servers and fast connections will periodically slow to a crawl if large graphics files are being transferred.
From the user's perspective, this wait for graphics to load is at best annoying and at worst maddening. The user generally wants to get his or her information and go somewhere else. Advertisers also find this delay annoying because the consumer—the computer user who is looking at a page containing the advertisement—will generally not wait for the advertisement to completely load before going to a new page or scrolling down the current page such that the advertisement cannot be seen. Text generally loads first on most systems because it can be transferred so quickly. Thus, the consumer can get his or her information and go somewhere else well before the graphical advertisement is displayed.
As the number of network users continue to increase and the use of graphics rapidly expands, it will become increasingly important for graphics to load faster. This would allow the user or consumer to not waste time waiting for graphics to load, and it allows advertisers to ensure that their advertisement is actually being viewed by consumers. Without improvements in the way graphics load, users and consumers will be constantly perturbed by slow loading graphics.